Many vehicles on the road today are equipped with a remote keyless entry (RKE) system. Many RKE systems allow a user to alarm a vehicle against theft, lock and unlock the doors and trunk, remote start the vehicle, etc. The RKE system mainly includes a key fob transmitter and a receiver inside the vehicle.
Current RKE systems allow a user to initiate an action in the vehicle using the transmitter in a key fob, which transmits data to the receiver in the vehicle. The user presses a pushbutton switch on his RKE key fob to initiate a request, and radio frequency (RF) signal. The request wakes up a key fob computer-processing unit (CPU) inside the key fob, which sends a data stream to the transmitter. Next, the receiver in the vehicle captures the RF signal, and sends the data stream to a vehicle CPU, which decodes it and sends commands to a command module.
While RKE systems allow vehicle operators to interact with their vehicle for remote start and lock/unlock features, current RKE systems do not allow vehicle operators the ability to interact with the vehicle in order to determine a location of the vehicle.